


your eyes look like coming home

by possibilityleft



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Family Bonding, Female Friendship, Gen, Set Post Episode VII, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-13 08:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5701765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possibilityleft/pseuds/possibilityleft
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four meetings Rey had with Leia Organa, before the First Order fell, and one that happened afterward.</p><p>  <em>"I guess it started with BB-8," she said after a moment's hesitation, when the Mon Calamari instructed her, gruffly but not unkindly, to start at the beginning.  General Organa leaned forward in her chair and interrupted.</em></p><p>  <em>"Rey, if you could, start… as far back as you remember," she said.  "Are you from Jakku?  How long have you been there?"</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	your eyes look like coming home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [100demons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/100demons/gifts).



> The first four scenarios are set in-between Episode VII and Episode VIII, and the final scenario is set post Episode IX, based on my assumptions as to how the series is going to shake out.

General Organa was full of practical advice for Rey when they decided that she was the one who would follow the map to Luke. She'd lived on the Falcon on and off for several years during the early part of her marriage to Han, so she was pretty familiar with its quirks. She told Rey about the door that tended to stick and the way the heat seemed to fail at the most inconvenient time, and she told Rey to pack a lot of shampoo. Way more than she thought she'd need.

"Trust me on this one," she said, when Rey asked what that was about.

They'd been in space for three weeks when Chewie disappeared for two hours into his quarters and came back smelling like magnolia flowers. Rey had picked that one because it was completely unlike anything she ever smelled on Jakku -- fresh and sweet. She glared at her companion.

"Bring your own!" she protested, but at least the cockpit smelled less sour.

*

Rey had been on ships before; she was used to cramped quarters, although she'd never been on a trip that lasted this long. She knew, too, that her quarters were bigger than Chewie's were; she'd tried to convince him to take Han's space but he had flatly refused. General Organa had helped her clear out the tiny bedroom, clucking her tongue at the cramped double-bunk, bed unmade.

"Can you believe we both slept here? It's a wonder neither of us developed back problems," she said, and she stripped the sheets and remade the bed with the ease of long practice, smoothing down the corners with sure fingers.

"They didn't even have a galley when I met Han!" the General continued, and Rey pretended not to notice her voice wobbling a little bit.

*

"Why didn't you train as a Jedi?" Rey asked Leia.

They'd been in the General's quarters for several hours discussing the route to find Luke, provisioning, and other details. Rey had expected to go over this with one of Leia's assistants, but she'd arrived to find Leia alone, the remains of her dinner still on the table.

Although Rey still forgot sometimes, Leia insisted that Rey call her by her first name. Their grieving hug had unlocked something between them, and Leia had gone from a near stranger to Rey's dear friend. The Force flowed around them both, and Rey could feel Leia's emotions then, as painful and aching as an electric shock, with years of pain behind them.

Leia hesitated to respond, and Rey bit her lip. Leia did have the right to her own secrets -- maybe she shouldn't be prying. But Rey couldn't imagine feeling the strength of the Force and not trying to go after it and understand it better.

"I did think about it," Leia said finally. "But… the Jedi used to teach that attachment was separation from the Force. And I don't agree with that."

Rey thought guiltily about Finn, about BB-8, and she could feel the blood rushing in her face. Leia smiled at her.

"Luke doesn't believe in it anymore either. He's had to adapt quite a bit. His own training was haphazard. But my attachments meant that I didn't have time to go away and learn about that side of my heritage. The Rebellion needed me in the Senate. Alderaan's survivors needed me. And it wasn't long before my husband and son needed me too. If I went out into the galaxy as a half-trained Jedi, that would be dangerous for me and everyone else."

"I see," Rey said. She could see it. Luke had given up a lot to be the last Jedi, she knew, and even if half of the stories she'd heard were legends, she knew it would be a hard road to walk. But at least she wasn't going to go alone.

*

Rey's debriefing happened about a week after they returned to base. General Organa presided over the small panel. Rey wasn't sure what to expect from them, or what she should say. Did they all know about Kylo Ren? Would she be able to talk about Han's death without crying? Would they send her back to Jakku when she was done?

She didn't want to go back to Jakku. That idea was kind of frightening to her: suddenly, she didn't have her future stretching out ahead of her, full of sand, waiting. But she'd seen so many things now, and the universe seemed like a place that she needed to be in, instead of hiding from. The Resistance was bigger than her, but she could have a part in it. And she had friends here. How could she go back?

"I guess it started with BB-8," she said after a moment's hesitation, when the Mon Calamari instructed her, gruffly but not unkindly, to start at the beginning. General Organa leaned forward in her chair and interrupted.

"Rey, if you could, start… as far back as you remember," she said. "Are you from Jakku? How long have you been there?"

A flash -- Plutt's arm, clutching hers hard enough to hurt, and her screaming -- and Rey drew a quick breath. The General's forehead wrinkled for a moment with concern, but she said nothing.

"I don't think I was born there," Rey said, after a few long moments. "I don't really remember what happened to my family, before they left me there…"

Hours later, Rey finished her story. Her throat was dry, even though they'd given her water any time she asked -- a luxury she was still getting used to. The recorder clicked off, and the General thanked her for her time. Rey felt tired and hollowed out, even though she hadn't done anything except talk.

"A commendation," one of the councilmembers said to another, a woman whose name Rey couldn't remember, and they were all nodding, rising from their chairs and already talking about something else, battle strategies and next steps. General Organa was the only one still looking in her direction.

"You've done so well," Leia said quietly to Rey. She hesitated, as if she wanted to say something more, and then shook her head.

The next week, Rey received her marching orders: she, R2-D2, and Chewbacca were going to take the Millennium Falcon to the planet identified on Artoo's map, and see what they found there. If Luke was still there, they would try to persuade him to come back to the Resistance. Rey wanted to protest that they should take someone else who Luke cared for, but then again, who? The General was too important to go on what might be a fool's mission, or into a trap, Han wasn't… available any longer, and who else could go? Almost everyone of a certain age on the base had a Luke story -- they'd known him at least a little, the way he came through often to see his family, but he didn't seem to have been close with anyone. Even a familiar face might have been better than a stranger, but R2-D2 was Luke's personal astromech, and he had known Chewbacca as long as he'd known Han. It would have to be enough.

A note had come not long after her orders had arrived, from the General herself. "Come see me to discuss logistics," the note said, scribbled in a confident hand. Obediently, Rey had gone.

*

"Ready?" Leia said, and her face glowed green in the reflection from the lightsaber. The bright light erased the finer lines on her face, and for a moment Rey saw her: the Princess of Alderaan, determined and confident in her choice. They had the same eyes, Rey realized after a moment, with pleasure, and judging from the holos she'd seen, they matched her grandmother's too.

Becoming a Jedi had been difficult. Luke had made her work harder than she'd ever worked before, and she'd lived a barely subsistent existence for a decade. But having family: that had been surprisingly easy. Even if they hadn't been related by blood, Rey felt like the Resistance would have become her family anyway. Not just Leia and Luke -- and Ben, now, as strange as that seemed -- but Finn and Poe and Jessica and everyone else, they were the most important people in her life, and she thought that they felt the same about her. She belonged here with them, and as a Jedi, she belonged everywhere in the universe, because the Force was everywhere around them. She had a place.

"I'm ready," Rey said, her heart flying. Luke looked between them and grinned, shaking his head a little.

"The remnants of the First Order are quivering in their beds," he said. "Go!"

Leia raced toward her, and Rey lifted her own lightsaber in answer. The two blades struck and twanged together loudly. It was a solid opening. Rey dodged back to assess the situation, but Leia kept coming at her, with a speed that belied her age.

Rey took a deep breath, reached into the Force, and answered her blow.


End file.
